The D'arc times we face, Story arc edition
by Blake Nightshade
Summary: This is a more grouped together edition of 4rgemonger and I's story, the d'arc times we face. This will be updated in story arcs, so this will be updated as soon as one is finished on the actual fic! (And yes, this is shameless promotion to go check out the actual story)


**Story Arc one: The D'arc times we face**

**Check the bottom authors note for more info!**

Jaune gasped for air, any that he could possibly pull into his depleted lungs. He heard quick rhythmic footsteps that grew louder and louder, and he knew what that entailed. Placing both palms on the ground, he pushed himself up. He looked up, fearing the worst; and he was right. A red-headed amazoness hit him with Akoúo, throwing him backwards again. He rolled into the concrete wall of the roof, and once again felt that there wasn't any air in his lungs. He stood up more quickly this time, and he raised his shield. His eyes found his sword, on the ground about three meters away . Pyrrha caught his glance and kicked the hilt, sending it spinning away, as she raised Miló and pulled the trigger. Jaune raised his shield and used his aura to strengthen it, making an extra layer of hard light expand so the javelin wouldn't be able to hit. Pyrrha smiled lightly as her spear was deflected, but she continued her onslaught by charging forward and ripping the shield from his hands with her semblance. Jaune, now disarmed and defenseless, backed away. Pyrrha picked up her downed weapon and mecha-shifted it into sword form. She clicked her tongue a little while walking forward slowly, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Jaune, when you have no weapons allow your aura to become a weapon," she said with a sigh. Jaune found that there was nowhere else to back into, he was on the edge. Pyrrha continued to advance until she was up in his face.

"Hi Pyrrha, heh heh," he chuckled a little. She smiled back, and reached up to poke his nose. Jaune's eyes crossed while attempting to keep it in sight, and he began to stutter ever so slightly. "uh, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing," Pyrrha said, poking him. She then jabbed him in the gut with her shield, sending him tumbling over the edge. Jaune screamed as he fell tumbling down, flailing his arms to grab a handhold or anything to keep him from dying. Jaune tried to center his thoughts, but met little success. The problem on his mind stayed in his mind, and it didn't have any room for anything else. He conjured the image of a grappling hook in his mind, trying to use his aura to form a projection. He struggled for a few seconds, but he realised it wasn't working. The ground was approaching fast, and he guessed the grappling hook was his last bid for life. Or was it? Something simpler than a grappling hook maybe. A large glowing hand formed meters from his own, and it latched onto a window sill. It jerked his arm violently, but Jaune could accept that over death. He sighed heavily, hanging from someone's window.

"I'm so sorry Jaune, I didn't try to knock you off, I just wanted to scare you! Is there anything I can do to make it up to you? I was told that-"

Jaune cut her off mid sentence. "Pyrrha, you're rambling. I realise it was an accident, but don't let it happen again. If I hadn't managed to do.. whatever I did, who knows what would have happened?" The normally confident amazon was rather downcast, but perked up slightly at his words.

"Jauney! I heard you were in the medical wing. Did you get injured? I worry about Ren being injured. I keep having dreams where we fight off hordes of Ursi; maybe we could do a reenactment? We might have to go to the emerald forest, I bet there are loads of Beowolves in there." Nora bounded into the room, with her green-clad partner close behind. Jaune and Pyrrha managed to block out the hyper ginger, as Ren made his way over to the bed. A smile crept onto Jaune's face, lifting his spirits. Suddenly, a large crashing noise reverberated through the room.

"Ummm," Jaune said, looking to his team. Whatever he would've said was cut off as a blur of red and yellow smashed through the ceiling, knocking the standing member of JNPR onto the ground. "Ruby? Yang?" Jaune asked. There was a lot of layers between the dorms, and the medical wing, so whatever knocked them down here must have been strong. "How did you get down here?" he asked. Ruby sat up, still dizzy, and gave them a sheepish look.

"Well, we sorta had an argument with Weiss, and it didn't end well…" Jaune conjured up an image of an angry Weiss, not just normal angry Weiss, but an angry Weiss that could easily bust through ten floors of solid concrete. He shivered slightly to make it go away. She was strong, probably one of the many reasons why he liked her.

"Jaune," he heard someone say. He snapped back to reality and saw Yang looking at him. His eyes began to drift downward but he snapped them back up to her face at her angry look. "What happened to you?" Yang asked. Jaune sighed and gestured to his arm in its sling.

"I got knocked off the roof," he said nonchalantly, trying to make himself seem a little cooler.

"What?!" Nora shrieked, dusting herself off while jumping around like an energetic puppy. "That's so COOL! Did a Beowolf knock you off? No! It must've been like in Red vs. Blue when the big spaceships all like 'firing main cannon' and then the building explodes like Bam! And then you probably fell off and Falling Towards the Sky plays and a pelican comes and rescues you on and stuff!" she yelled, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him up and down. Jaune let out a little grunt from the sudden motion and he tried to talk.

"Training… No air… Let go!" he finally gasped out. Ren pulled Nora away and began to whisper to her while Jaune got his breath back. "Yang, Ruby, you should probably get moving." he said while looking upward. Following his eyes, the two teams saw a blur of white zooming down the hole that the sisters had made. A glyph appeared in the air that stopped the heiress' fall short. Her heels clicked quietly as her feet hit the tile. She still had an aura of rage around her as she stalked towards them, her eyes focused on Ruby and Yang.

"You two," she said, her body quaking with silent anger. Jaune made a squeaking noise not unlike a rat's last cry.

"Just calm down Ice Queen, it was just a prank," Yang said backing away from the enraged girl. Ruby poked her index fingers together and followed suit, making a kind of nervous giggle.

"I'm sure we can fix your bed later" soothed Ruby. "You can use mine while I sleep on the ground if you like," she said, trying to reason.

"I agreed to bunk beds! I didn't say anything about graffiti and defiling it! Those sheets were made of the finest cotton and wool!" She yelled. Just then, a nurse poked her into the room.

"Can you please keep it down, there are patients who value the little sleep they get," she said sternly. Weiss frowned and crossed her arms, but as she turned to face Yang and Ruby again, they were gone. She growled and sprinted out the door, probably trying to find them. jaune sighed, not at the whole scene but just at the fact that the nurse didn't notice the hole in the ceiling. He turned his head and saw Pyrrha standing up, then looking at him.

"So again, I really am sorry Jaune," she said sitting on his bedside looking into his eyes. Jaune felt a kind of awkward moment gather up, but Nora quickly ended it.

"Um, so what did happen?" she asked. Jaune sighed and began to recount it all.

Thrush walked towards the rest of his team, sighing slightly. He didn't really know why he put up with the rest of them, much less go along with what they did. Probably acceptance, Cardin came from a powerful family and he could leech some of that. But he figured he knew the real reason, Cardin was actually a nice guy at some point. He didn't know why, but something in the Forever Fall had changed him. Ever since they'd abandoned him to the mercy of the Ursa, any kindness he had for his team even had just left him. But still, Thrush wondered what in the Emerald Forest had transformed Cardin into the bully he was.

"Russel," he heard someone call. He sighed and looked over at Cardin. "We've got some stuff to do tonight, I think you know what I mean," he said. The days when Cardin had warmth in his voice were over. Russell nodded slowly as Cardin began to speak the devious plot he had concocted. It was what Russell expected. Revenge.

Jaune woke up suddenly, looking around some unknown place. There was a lot of fog, and he could hear heavy, ominous breathing. He stood up slowly, hand on his sword. Turning his head, he realised he didn't know where he was. Wasn't he just in Goodwitch's class? The breathing began to get heavier, and Jaune jumped when he began to hear cackling. He drew his sword and the shield jumped onto his forearm.

"I'm not afraid!" he said, barely able to hold his weapons from how much his arm was shaking. The figure circled him twice, getting closer and closer. Jaune unintentionally spun to face the figure, which resulted in some dizziness.

"So you're the great hero, not much. How does one like you cause so much harm?" the figure asked. It's voice was deep and baritone, completely lifeless.

"Wh- What do you want?" he asked, dropping the act of being brave. A trident was summoned into the hands of the demon out of thin air, and it used it to hold Jaune up against a wall that rose suddenly out of the earth.

"So you're the one who'll bring forth so much darkness," the voice said in a lifeless baritone. Jaune gripped the trident, trying to pull it away from his throat. "Struggle all you want Arc," the monster said. "Soon you will be at a crossroad, when the beast awakens. You will help end the world, or save it. But either way, what you treasure most will die!" the whole scene faded into blur of swirling darkness, and suddenly everything became bright.

"Mr. Arc, I'd appreciate it if you stayed awake during class," Glynda snapped. Jaune looked from side to side and realised he was in the middle of Semblance training class. "I suppose since you didn't bother to listen you already know what's being discussed," she said, glaring at him. Jaune nodded slowly, and chuckled nervously. Glynda nodded. "Alright then Mr. Arc, then I suppose you can demonstrate your semblance." Jaune stood up slowly, not really knowing what to do. He stood awkwardly for a second, and he caught Pyrrha's gaze from across the room. She made a shield gesture, and not for the first time he misinterpreted it. he picked up his textbook from his desk and placed it over his arm.

"Shield," he stuttered. The class burst into raucous laughter, and even Ms. Goodwitch struggled to keep a smile off her face.

"Ms. Nikos, perhaps you'd like to give Mr. Arc a hand?" Goodwitch asked. Pyrrha nodded and stood up confidently. Jaune wished he had her stance and self-esteem. She held her palm up in the direction of the shield mounted on the wall ahead of him, and she closed her eyes. It levitated over to her, and she grabbed it from the air. Ms. Goodwitch nodded slowly, and continued her lectures. Jaune let out a sigh, and slumped into his seat. Pyrrha looked over and sighed, saddened. It seemed he wasn't really taking in much of what she taught him, aside from a few combat abilities he took to easily. She followed suit and slumped into her seat, wishing he would actually pay attention to her. Wait what? To her, or her training. Both, she guessed.

Weiss looked angrily at her bed, pristine white linen and wool scattered across the room, defiled by black permanent ink marker. There were random drawings of spiders, cats, and zombies. Ruby's contribution was obvious, given the amount of cookie pictures. She remembered waking up, the markered spider looking so real, and letting out a blood-curdling scream that must have woken up the rest of the school.

"I must say you did have it coming" remarked her black clad roommate. "You've treated them harshly since the beginning, and they haven't once snapped at you." Weiss whirled around, about to reprimand Blake when she realised that she was right.

"I know I was mean, but this?" Weiss gestured to the room. "I don't think this was called for." Blake acquiesced slightly at the heiress' downtrodden expression.

"Tell you what, I'll help you get them back. We've been so caught up in school work we forgot to have fun- and besides, _nobody _can beat me at prank wars." Blake put her book back up and blocked her face. Weiss grinned slightly as evil thoughts of payback and revenge flooded her head.

Cardin slipped the note under Team JNPR's door and cackled. It had taken a while to forge Pyrrha's handwriting, but it was going to pay off in the end. That punk was tough, but he'd looked into how Jaune had killed the Ursa. If he didn't have Pyrrha or his team, he wouldn't be able to win any fights whatsoever. What better time to bruise him? He looked to Dove, Russell and Sky. "Revenge is best served cold," he said, looking out to the light blanket of snow covering the grounds.

Jaune pushed the door open slowly, undoing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt. he kicked off his shoes and walked to his desk, putting down the books he'd been assigned to read and write papers on. He stretched out a bit as he dressed in more casual clothes, when his eye caught hold of a small envelope. He strode towards it and he leaned down, pickin

g it up and turning it in his hand. Jaune, it said. He sat down at the desk and peeled it open, unfolding the crisp white paper. His eyes scanned over it quickly, widening. He gaped and fell backwards, ignoring the pain. He was shocked. He didn't know his team felt this way. He stood up and nearly fell back down again, his legs shaking. The girl he had fallen so hard for had flat out rejected him, and hadn't even told him to his face. Shredding the note to pieces, he dashed out the door of their dorm, heading for the training center. If they saw him as a weak person, he'd have to train harder.

Team JNPR was worried. In the past week, Jaune had gone out of his way to avoid them, spending most of his time pushing himself in the training center. It had gotten so bad Ms. Goodwitch had pulled Ren aside after class to speak about it, since Jaune had disappeared as soon as the bell rang. Ren had then confided in Blake, asking her to try and speak to the boy if she got the chance, given how much if her schedule had been taken up by team RWBY's escalating prank war.

So here Blake was, sitting in the rafters watching the blonde haired boy tear through training robots. She had briefly considered stopping the boy when he set the bots to the hardest difficulty, but was quite glad she didn't given the display before her. The knight became a whirlwind of death, his blade singing as it tore through steel like paper. It was like a dance, a rhythm of swinging and dodging so fluid it looked like he had been training for years. A perfectly executed spin beheaded one drone, while a solid kick to the sternum sent the other flying into a window. Folding his shield into a sheath and tucking away his sword, Blake chose this moment to drop down. Readying his weapon on instinct before realising who it was, he relaxed slightly.

"What are you doing here Blake?" Questioned Jaune, putting away his sword again. The girl in black was about to speak, but faltered at his eyes. The normally peaceful blue eyes were filled with gut-wrenching sadness. She wondered what on earth could cause someone so happy to look like _this_.

"I came to speak to you. Your teammates are worried about you, Jaune. They want to know why you've been avoiding worry about you; come back to them." At this he went from shattered to enraged in the blink of an eye.

"Worried? Why would they be worried? They don't care about me." At Blake's shocked expression, he whipped out his scroll and handed it to her. "They left this message for me the other day. They don't want a weak team leader like me." Walking away, he was in in the doorway before she called out to him.

"You know, I thought you were smart, or at least smarter than this." She called out. "Do you really think that your friends would betray you?" Jaune whirled back around, wanting but not believing what she was saying.

"How do you explain the note then? It's obviously in Pyrrha's handwriting." Blake walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I think you've been tricked. There's only one person that hates you enough to try and ruin you." The blonde thought briefly, before coming to a realisation.

"CARDIN!"

"Cardin you assbasket," Jaune said, blocking the older boys way in the hall. Cardin stepped forward and loomed over him. The rest of his team cast nervous glances as they watched their leader pull out his mace.

"What're you going to do about it?" Cardin challenged. Unlike Jaune, who was clothed in his battle gear, Cardin was only wearing his school uniform. Jaune unsheathed his sword, and his sheath mecha-shifted into shield form.

"Fight you," Jaune sid before charging forwards and swinging downwards in a vertical arc at Cardin's head. Cardin swung his mace and deflected the blow, also effectively knocking the sword from Jaune's hands. Jaune raised his shield and deflected Cardin's side strike, and then he slid towards his sword. He scooped it up quickly and went into a defensive stance, keeping his vulnerable spots behind his shield. Cardin sprinted forward and jumped, using the added momentum to power his already strong sweep. Jaune blocked it head on and was sent sliding back, still on his feet. Jaune noticed that Cardin had left an opening to his right ribs, so he sprinted and thrust, jabbing at Cardin's exposed area. Before he could though, a loud sound like a thunderclap went off and Jaune flew back down the hall and onto his back. Jaune tried to get up but he felt a boot crush down on his chest.

"Oh Jauney boy, did you like my semblance? Maybe you should've taken that into account before you fought me," he said, digging his heel into the boy. "And guess what? The red head can't save you now!" he shouted, raising his mace high. Suddenly, a red spear hit Cardin in the back and throwing him off of Jaune and into a wall.. Jaune heard an excited scream, a loud snapping, and Cardin crying out in pain. Did Nora just break his legs? Getting up off the ground, he waved off his team's concern and readied himself for a second round.

"Interesting trick you've got there. Mind if I show off a few of my own?"

With a horrific cracking sound, Cardin used his aura to heal his legs to an extent where he could stand. As the two armor clad boys circled each other, a crowd had gathered, forming an arena of sorts. Neither made any sort of move towards their opponent, simply observing for now. After the third minute, Cardin leapt forward, with a swing that would have smashed the smaller boy into a pulp if not for a timely roll.

Jaune retaliated with a quick flurry of strikes, pausing only to avoid another life threatening blow. Cardin poured his fury into his blows, losing them accuracy but adding a huge bonus to strength and power. Fortunately, Jaune was able to dodge them easily. After a particularly heavy diagonal swipe Cardin had opened himself up yet again. Cardin was too repetitive, Jaune thought with a smirk. Jaune used his sword like an epee, plunging in towards his heart.

As Jaune lunged, Cardin reacted faster than the eye could see, punching him across the chest and making a neat man shaped hole in the building next to them. Following him in, Cardin completely disregarded the class and Ms. Goodwitch, his blood rage guiding him toward his foe. Striding towards Jaune, he swang again, a brutal left hook and an uppercut that left a battered blonde slumped against a bench. As Cardin was about to hit him again, Jaune started muttering in some sort of language that the taller boy didn't recognise.

"What's up blondie? Praying to your god?" Cardin sneered. Crouching at eye level with Jaune, he was startled when the boy looked up, blue eyes ablaze.

"Aura release level one!" Jaune yelled, a blue firestorm exploding out from his chest. It was good that Goodwitch thought to put up her strongest dust shield over the students, given that the classroom and connecting corridors were leveled. Cardin was flying as well, before Bluefire chains wrapped around his limbs. "Going somewhere?" It was Jaune's turn to sneer, as he unleashed an onslaught of blows, battering and bruising Cardin. "For a week, I doubted my team, and myself!" He accompanied each statement with a series of blows. "I thought that they hated me! That I was too weak to be their leader! If one good thing came out of this week, it would be that I finally managed to sort out my feelings towards certain people in this school, yourself included. You have too many things to answer for; prepare yourself." As he unsheathed Crocea Mors, Jaune felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Jaune?"

He whirled around, sending the flames into a flurry, only to come face to face with a frightened Pyrrha. "Jaune, you're scaring us. This isn't the team leader we know, nor the boy I've come to be friends with. You've done enough to him, just let him go." The intensity of the Bluefire grew as Jaune became angry,before he noticed something. He had always been able to read her like a book, and had come to recognise a wide array of her emotions. He had seen many directed his way, from embarrassment to envy, but never pure, unadulterated fear. The fire flickered once, before petering out.

"I'm sorry," Jaune said quietly. He looked into his good friends eyes and saw them brighten ever so slightly. She managed a weak smile, and she placed his hand on his shoulder.

"So cute, but Cardin needs the infirmary, and you've… interrupted this class," Ms. Goodwitch huffed. Both Jaune and Pyrrha looked around at the many eyes staring intently at the two, and they both rushed out of the room blushing furiously.

"They make a nice couple," Yang told her little sister as she watched the pair vacate. She didn't know why, but that set something off in her. She ignored it though, and fixed her gaze on Ruby. The younger girl looked furious, jealous, and embarrassed all at once. "Woah, why the face Rubes?" Yang asked. Ruby snapped her head around suddenly, let out an angry humph, and went back to randomly scribbling on a piece of paper. Yang leaned in to see what she was writing, and was honestly quite surprised. There were random plans numbered from one to twenty ranging from love potions to getting Pyrrha drunk. At the top of the paper big and bolded, were the words 'Plans to Break Jaune and Pyrrha Up'. "Oh, I see," Yang said, though she didn't press.

Thrush looked at himself in the mirror and wondered who he was looking at. In the past two months he'd stopped gelling his hair and shaving it, so it grew out and covered his head and ears. It wasn't long like Sky, but he quite liked it. He'd also gained a little weight, so instead of appearing as a toothpick he actually had the physique of a fighter. He sighed and stalked out of CRDL's room, covering a yawn. He walked down the halls slowly, knowing in his heart what he had to do. The realisation had hit him last night when he was taking one of his walks through the courtyard. Team CRDL wasn't what it could've been. They'd had potential and kindness in them, but Cardin's wrath had ruined that. He turned a corner and saw what he was looking for. Cardin was busy bullying Velvet again.

"Cardin!" Thrush shouted. Cardin turned suddenly in panic, afraid it was Jaune. Luckily it was just his good friend and teammate.

"Just in time Russell, help me tie her ears together," he laughed. Velvet cried in protest and tried to run, but Cardin had a hand clamped on her left ear.

"No," Thrush said simply.

"Wait what?" Cardin asked in shock. His face grew tense and he clenched his free fist.

"Hell no," Thrush said again, in a stronger voice. "I'm done being your mindless moron who laughs at your crap jokes and who helps you whenever you're an ass," he said, courage suddenly pumping through his vein like a combat steroid. Thrush pulled his two short swords from their sheaths.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day that you pulled Feather and Fall on me," Cardin smirked, letting go of Velvet. She then ran, crying. Cardin produced his own weapon and brandished it menacingly. Thrush got into his combat stance, left leg out and Fall covering while Feather was at the ready. A jet of green air blasted Thrush forward, his semblance getting him air and speed to increase the fatality of his dual-sword Thrush-Bird Strike. Cardin swung his mace and knocked Thrush from the sky, sending him flying back against a wall.

"I didn't get burned by Jaune today to lose to my own team mate," Cardin growled. He trudged towards the prone Thrush, palm out. He blasted a tremor of energy, blowing up the wall and knocking Thrush out the second story. Thrush gusted back in through the hole and delivered a powerful slash against Cardin's chest plate. Cardin fell backwards but rolled to his feet. Thrush returned to his stance and prepared for Cardin's next blow. Cardin stared at Thrush and roared. Thrush lowered his weapons momentarily, and he immediately heard snapping noises from all over his body. He fell to his knees, blood pouring from his mouth. Cardin walked to him and tapped his forehead. Thrush fell onto his back, groaning in pain and coughing up blood. Cardin smirked and turned, seeing Jaune standing there.

"What did I tell you Cardin?" Jaune asked angrily.

"I'm not fighting you again," Cardin growled, taking a wide stance.

"He won't have to," A low voice said from behind Cardin. Cardin turned and glared at Thrush, brandishing his swords in their mecha-shifted forms. They were now sawed-offs, and Thrush had killer intent in his eyes. Cardin looked at him and laughed.

"What are you going to do?" he asked challengingly. Thrush sprinted forwards and shot at Cardin's head, who in turn had to roll out of the way of the kill shot. Thrush fired his second shotgun and hit Cardin, and was rewarded with a cry of pain from his leader. The shotguns mecha-shifted back into swords, which Thrush sheathed. He noticed Jaune was staring at him, jaw hanging down.

"You boys cause a lot of trouble," Ozpin said suddenly from the doorway, casting his gaze from the hole in the wall to the two bloodied boys. "In my office in three hours please," he said before sipping his coffee.

Ozpin strode back and forth in front of teams RWBY, CRDL and JNPR

"You have been causing nothing but trouble for the past month," Ozpin scolded as he walked past the teams, sipping his coffee. "Team RWBY and their prank wars. Team JNPR and your constant feud with CRDL. It has to all stop. You already damaged too much school property, and scared enough innocent students. SO…" Ozpin paused to take a sip of his coffee. "I've brought a baby sitter, Team RWBY knows him," Ozpin said. Blake suddenly perked up and turned her head to the doorway. A familiar faunus boy strode in smiling, turning his gaze to the three teams.

"Hey guys," Sun said. Weiss let out an audible grunt, and Cardin began to laugh.

"A faunus is going to be keeping an eye on us?" He managed, and he gasped for air. After a few seconds his face grew grim. "I don't think so," he said coldly. Nora jumped from her seat and smiled at him. Cardin leaned back in his chair in a panic, causing it to lean a little too far back and dropping him onto the floor. He scrambled back and clutched the chair to his chest, squeaking like a frightened mouse. "DON'T LET HER BREAK MY LEGS AGAIN!" he screamed, almost sobbing.

"She doesn't even have her hammer." Thrush sighed.

"Oh, I didn't use my hammer last time," Nora sneered wickedly. "These hands have multiple uses," she laughed evilly.

"Nora calm!" Ren shouted pulling her down and papping her lightly. She gave him a look like a saddened puppy and sat back down. Sun maintained a constant grin and laughed slightly on occasion. He didn't miss the glares Weiss shot in his direction, but he ignored them by sending smiles to Blake.

"As you know, the tournament begins next week," Ozpin suddenly said, quieting the rest of the room. "I hope all of you are prepared to participate, as it's an easier way to take out your aggression without destroying the campus. That, and you don't really have a choice; think of it as a detention of sorts. Tomorrow, the teams from other schools arrive, and I want your teams to join team Seraph in greeting them."

"Who?" Jaune asked suddenly. He was aware of the many other teams, but not a Seraph.

"Team Seraph," Ozpin repeated. "SRPH, as it's usually known as." Ozpin concluded as he took another sip from his coffee. "Some of the teams you'll meet won't be likeable, but you may only attack them in the tournament. Now, you all need to get to class," Ozpin said.

Pyrrha wasn't oblivious to it. Ever since team Cardinal's awful prank, Jaune had changed a lot. It wasn't drastic, he was just a little more centered and he had this kind of cold flame in his eyes. She dipped her hand in the cold water of the fountain, sighing to herself. Then in the following months he'd started doing seriously better in class, and he always won his duels. But he wasn't the same charming boy she had fallen in love with. She couldn't deny he'd become more attractive, she'd had to deal with more than a few girls staring at him in the cafeteria. But she had fallen for his boyish looks, and his noble heart, not this ruthless warrior.

"Pyrrha," she heard suddenly. She turned her head and locked eyes with the alleged ruthless warrior.

"Oh, Jaune," she said, not sure whether to feel excited or saddened. Her feelings on her brave leader were mixed as of late. She couldn't mix the look of sorrow coming from his eyes, radiating in his aura. "What's the matter?" she asked hesitantly. Jaune sighed and buried his face in his hands.

"Who am I?" Jaune asked. Pyrrha was taken aback. "I used to know, sure I hated it, but I knew who I was and where I belonged. But now… I'm confused." Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"You're Jaune Arc, a true hero," she smiled. "Its been lost in that darkness, but your still the same. Remember Jaune, a warrior doesn't have to be cold and merciless," she told him. He looked up at her and let out another sigh.

"But look what I've become," he said. Pyrrha giggled.

"Hot," she said. Jaune fell backwards into the water of the fountain. He pulled himself out and for a moment Pyrrha saw the old Jaune. ANd it seemed to stay.

"Wait what?" he asked as he sat himself down and wrung his sleeves. Pyrrha giggled again and looked away. "Oh I see how it is," Jaune grumbled. Pyrrha turned to face him and did the most extraordinary thing. She leaned in and put her lips to his.

Ruby glared at the spectacle angrily. She looked at a clipboard and began crossing out plans that were written down. She circled one and began to laugh quietly.

"You'll be mine Arc," she said slyly. She felt a tug on her hood and was jerked back. She gasped as she landed hard. "Oww, Yang what's your problem?" she asked slightly irritated.

"You're killing the mood," the taller girl said. She looked back to the couple, who were now walking off, hands linked. "So cute," she smiled. "And Jaune really is a hottie," she said a little wistfully.

"WHAT?!" Ruby screamed. latching onto her sister's arm. "NO!" she cried. Yang smiled.

"Sorry sis, but I guess we can have a little contest," Yang grinned slyly, just as Ruby had done earlier.

**A/N And there we go! This is part one, with more to come soon! I'll be updating Split Souls ASAP, but writers block really isn't helping. Go check out the actual story over on 4rgemonger's page!**


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